Senior citizens murdered close to police quarters

A 62-yr-old retired telecom employee and his 85-yr-old mother were murdered in their Ghaziabad home, about a stone’s throw from the official residences of the district administrative and police bosses.

The bodies of Girija Devi and her son S Kumar, who lived by themselves in sector 14 of Ghaziabad’s posh Raj Nagar locality, were found around 9.30am on Friday morning.

An LPG cylinder delivery man got suspicious after ringing the doorbell repeatedly without any response. He then informed the neighbours, who alerted police.

“The murders possibly took place on Thursday night around 8-9pm. A kitchen knife was used to slit the throats of both victims,” senior superintendent of police (SSP) Nitin Tiwari said.

The police said there must have been at least two assailants and both victims had “precision cuts” that had ensured immediate death.

Kumar’s body was found in the kitchen, while his mother’s body was found in one of the inside rooms.

There were cutmarks on Girija’s fingers, which she possibly suffered when she tried to resist the attackers.

The police said there did not seem to be any attempt at robbery since none of the gold ornaments the victims wore and the R20,000 kept in the locker of an almirah were left touched.

“We are yet to establish a conclusive motive behind the incident,” said Tiwari.

Local shopkeepers told HT that Kumar was last seen on Thursday, when he was out on his routine evening walk Kumar’s father died two years ago and his three younger brothers live in Hyderabad, Chennai and Delhi.

The bodies were later sent for post mortem after the family members arrived and lodged an FIR.